Machine for drilling and shaping buttons.



A. V. DRDA. MACHINE FOR DRILLING AND SHAPING BUTTONS. APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 26, 1912 RENEWED JAN. 31, 1914.

Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

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y A. v. DRDA. MACHINE FOR DRILLING AND SHAPING BUTTONS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26, 1912. RENBWBDIAN. 31, 1914.

1,090,604. Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

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MACHINE DRILLING AND SHAPING BUTTONS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1?, rare.

Application filed November 26, 1912, Serial No. 733,716. Renewed January 31, 1914. Serial No. 815,800.

To aZZ 'lC/tOTlL it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTOINETTE V. DRDA, of Astoria, Queens county, New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Drilling and Shaping Buttons, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for making the fish-eye, so called, in buttons, and for drilling the thread holes through the buttons.

M y improvements relate more particularly to the drilling mechanism.

Drilling machines are generally. used in which the drilling needles extend nearly parallel through the button, and'the needles are flexible, and are often bent slightly during the drilling operation, so that the holes through the button are made nearly parallel with each other, and sometimes diverge toward the. outer side of the button. I have found that by drilling the holes so that they converge toward the outer side or fish-eye side of the button, the buttons are much stronger, and they are also less likely to break or chip away during the drilling Furthermore, by using cross needles to effect this system of drilling readily, I am enabled to use the drills to better advantage, they require less bending, can be used up to shorter lengths, and they are less likely to break.

My invention, therefore, relates to improvements in machines in which the above arrangement can be readily carried out, and also to improved means for cutting the fish eye. i

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar reference characters indicate corresponding'parts in all the views.

Figure l is a sectional elevation of a machine showing my improvements. F 2 is a rear end view of the machine. Fig. 3 is a detail view, partly in section, of the driving means for the cutter, and Fig. 4: shows a form of button which can be drilled and shaped on my improved machine.

My invention is adapted to be applied to machines of an existing type, and as above stated, relates more particularly to the drilling means and to the means for cutting the fish-eye. I have therefore shown a machine which in general is like a well-known form of machine. The machine is provided with a suitable frame 10, having mounted therein spindles 11 which converge toward the inner end, and these spindles can be arranged in groupsrof two, three or four as desired, but generally they are arranged either in groups of two or four. The spindles have chucks 12 at the outer end to hold the drilling needles 13, and they are also provided with interior plugs or abutments 14 which are used to force the needles forward as desired, these abutments as shown having threaded portions 15 which lit corresponding threaded portions on the inner walls of the. spindles 11. The spindles are rotated rapidly to effect a similar movement of the drills 13, and they can be driven in any suitable way. I have shown the customary arrangement in which the spindles are provided with grooved pulleys l6 alining with a similar pulley 17 on the driving shaft 18 which is mounted in the frame 10, and a belt 19 runs over the pulleys 16 and 17 and also over an idler 16 as shown in F 2. The driving shaft 18 can be mounted in any suitable manner, and I: have shown it with the customary tight and loose pulleys 20 and 21. All the above is substantially like the machines of a well-known type, and is not claimed as my invention.

The most important feature of the invention lies in the arrangement of the needles and the guide block 22, the latter being arranged in the lower end of a bracket 30 hereinafter referred to, which is attached to the machine frame, and the guide block is preferably hollow except at its forward end, and this is provided with bores which serve to guide and stilfen the drilling needles 13, and the holes diverge from the inner to the outer part of the guide block end, so as to properly direct the needles. It will be observed that the needles cross within the guide block, and while I have shown a pair of needles, it will be understood that a greater number can be used if desired. By having the needles crossed within the block, the holes are drilled at the desired angles, that is converging toward the outer side of the button, the needles are kept straight while drilling, thus preventing breakage, the crossing portions of the needles are protected or housed so that they are not likely to catch or pick up extraneous matter, and the needles are stiffened and guided at a point very near the work. Moreover, by having the needles diverge after they pass through the guide block, they drill the button in such a manner that the pointsof the needles come farther apart as the drilling progresses. This enables the holes to be very near together at the point of beginning, which is desirable, and this result can be better obtained than by the ordinary needles which do not cross, because in the latter case the points of the needles approach as they pass through the stock, and the walls of the holes are very likely to be broken out. The inner ends of these needles are arranged opposite the end of the button holding chuck 24, which I have not shown in detail, as it is common to machines of this type, and in practice this chuck is moved forward so that the button blank 25 contained therein will be engaged by the drilling needles, and holes 25 made therein as shown in Fig. 4:. I have not shown means for advancing the chuck 24, as it forms no part of this invention. It will be seen that when the chuck with the button blank 25 therein is advanced, the drilling needles will bore through the blank, and holes will be made which will converge from the back to the front side of the button, thus preventing chipping, and making the button strong in the center so that it will not be likely to break away when sewn to a garment.

Located between the chuck 24 and the guide block 22, is the rotatable cutter 26 which is adapted to form the fish-eye 25 in the button blank, and obviously the shape of the fish-eye will depend on the shape of the cutter. The cutter is brought down to position to cut the fish-eye when the chuck 24 and button blank 25 are pushed upward against it, and when the drilling is to be performed, the tool 26 is permitted to rise up out of alinement with the chuck 2 1 as presently described.

The cutter 26 is carried on the shaft 27 which is driven by a pulley 28, and the pulley is keyed on the shaft so that the shaft may slide freely through the pulley, although the two will turn together. The shaft turns in a suitable bearing 29 in the extension or bracket 30, and it is normally raised by a spring 27 which is arranged between the top of the bearing 29 and a collar 27 on the shaft. The upper end of the shaft strikes the lower surface of a cap 31 on an arm 32 which is secured to a shaft 33, this being journaled in a part of the bracket 30, and a crank arm 34 on the shaft 33 is connected to a rod 35 which leads down to a suitable treadle not shown but common to machines of this kind, so that by pressing downward on the treadle and pulling down the rod 35, the shaft 27 and cutter 26 are forced downward, while by releasing the treadle, the spring 27 raises the shaft. The downward movement of the shaft is limited by an abutment 36 against which the arm 32 strikes. The shaft 27 is driven by a belt 37 or an equivalent driving means, and as shown the belt is adapted to run over a pulley 38 on the shaft 39 which is arranged horizontally on the bracket 30, thence downward over a pulley 40 on the shaft 18, and thence upward over a second pulley 38 shown in Fig. 2.

From the above description it will be seen that I have provided a very simple and convenient means for shaping the button blank, and for drilling the holes so as to preserve the strength of the button and utilize the needles to the best advantage. f

The guide block 22 is often called a spread block in the trade, and with the customary form of machines several of these spread blocks are necessary, according to the size of buttons which are'being operated on, but with my guide block or spread block,

it will be noticed that the same block can be used for buttons of different sizes, as the needles can be adjusted so as to regulate their projection from the block, according as the button is small or large.

I claim 1. In a machine of the kind described, the

combination with the hollow guide block having outwardly diverging holes through the end thereof, the drilling needles crossing within the block and projecting through the holes thereof, and a chuck arranged opposite the needles, of avertically movable and rotatable shaft, a cutting tool carried by the shaft, and a driving pulley keyed to the shaft, whereby the shaft can move vertically through the pulley thereby bringing the cutting tool into and out of alinement with the needles and chuck. V

2. In a machine of the kind described, the combination with the rotatable spindles and the needle carried thereby and projecting therefrom, of a guide block spaced apart from the spindle ends and provided with diverging holes to guide the needles, a chuck arranged opposite the needle ends, and a rotatable cutting tool movable up and down between the needle ends and the aforesaid chuck.

Witnesses:

JOHN MACHEK, CHARLES BELSKY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

